How To Use Your Workbook
The Learn To Speak program will be your principal tool for gaining listening comprehension and conversation skills, but this text can serve as a handy reference tool for vocabulary and grammar questions, as an aid during your conversations with the onscreen characters, and as a workbook for reviewing and practicing grammar. The text is organized into eight major sections which have been marked by tabs to facilitate access: Basic Expressions contains all the expressions introduced in the Basics Course of the program. Use this section to review and practice common phrases. You may also want to refer to this section as you practice branching Simulated Conversations with onscreen characters. Story and Action contains the dialogues from all the lessons in the Comprehensive Courses. Use this section to review the dialogues and to practice your reading skills. You may also want to refer to this section as you practice branching Simulated Conversations with onscreen characters. Grammar contains a reference grammar. The content of the grammar largely coincides with the content and organization of the Grammar Guide in the program. Use this section to learn about specific grammar points, such as the Present Tense of Regular Verbs, or to review entire categories, such as Verbs or Nouns. Exercises contains exercises for selected grammar points. The exercises are drawn from the program content, but have been modified to fit a textual format. Use this section to practice your grammar when you are unable to use the program, and to see where you need more practice. Answer Key contains the answers to the exercises. Appendices contains handy grammar charts and a grammar glossary. Vocabulary contains the vocabulary from your Learn To Speak program. It is arranged alphabetically according to the foreign language. Indices contains alphabetical indices of selected grammar points and the Story and Action dialogues.

TALKING ABOUT SCHOOL
Tu es étudiant ? Qu’est-ce que tu étudies ? Je fais mon droit. Je fais une école de commerce. La biologie. Are you a student? What are you studying? I’m in law school. I’m a Business major. Biology.

TALKING ABOUT LEISURE ACTIVITIES
Qu’est-ce que tu fais pour t’amuser ? J’aime bien faire de la randonnée. J’adore voyager. J’écoute de la musique. Quelle sorte de musique est-ce que tu aimes ? J’aime toute sorte de musique, sauf l’opéra. J’adore le jazz. Tu aimes les sports ? J’aime jouer au tennis. What do you do for fun? I like to go hiking. I love to travel. I listen to music. What kind of music do you like? I like all music except opera. I’m into jazz. Do you like sports? I like to play tennis.

ASKING SOMEONE FOR A DATE
Et si on sortait un de ces jours ? Tu es libre demain ? Allons chercher quelque chose à manger. Tu veux jouer au tennis un de ces jours? Would you like to go out sometime? How about tomorrow? Let’s go get something to eat. Would you like to play tennis sometime?

Action
Hôtesse Mme Thomas Hôtesse Mme Thomas Hôtesse Mme Thomas Hôtesse Mme Thomas Hôtesse Can I help you, ma’am? At what time does the plane from New York arrive, please? What airline? Air France? Yes, flight 11. Let’s see, flight 11 is delayed. It will arrive at around 1230. Delayed? But I’m in a hurry. Well, it left late from New York. As usual! No, ma’am! That flight is almost always on time! There’s fog in New York. Aha! You can have a little something downstairs, in the cafeteria. That’s a good idea. Thanks.

The Family
Dialogues
Story
Martine Robert Martine Robert Martine Robert Martine Robert Martine Robert Martine Robert Martine Robert Martine Qu’est-ce que c’est? C’est une photo de ma famille. C’est qui, ça? C’est mon père. Quel âge a-t-il? Il a cinquante-trois ans. Qu’est-ce qu’il fait? Il enseigne les mathématiques à l’université de Boston. Et la femme à côté de ton père, c’est ta mère? Non, ma mère est morte. C’est ma tante, la sœur de mon père. Elle a l’air très intéressante. As-tu des frères? Non, mais voici ma sœur Nicole. Elle habite où? À Munich. Elle y travaille pour une compagnie allemande. Tu as une famille charmante. What is this? This is a photo of my family. Who’s this? This is my father. How old is he? He’s fifty-three. What does he do? He teaches math at the university of Boston. And the woman next to your father, is that your mother? No. My mother is dead. This is my aunt, my father’s sister. She looks very interesting. Do you have any brothers? No, but this here is my sister Nicole. Where does she live? In Munich. She’s working there for a German company. You have a charming family.

Labor Day
Dialogues
Story
Martine Robert Martine Robert Martine Robert Robert Martine Robert Salut, Robert. Que penses-tu de ma nouvelle voiture? Elle est formidable. Écoute, je dois aller à la gare. Tu m’emmènes? Monte! Ça te gênes de t’asseoir à l’arrière? Non, pas du tout. Tu quittes la ville ce week-end? Oui, samedi sera le premier Mai. Ce jour-là il y a toujours des manifs. Je déteste les manifs. Pourquoi ça? Parce qu’il y a trop de monde dans les rues. Et puis il y a des embouteillages partout. D’ailleurs, mon amie Yvette m’a invité à un pique-nique à deux à la campagne. Ce sera beaucoup plus agréable. Hey, Robert. What do you think of my new car? It’s great. Listen, I have to get to the train station. Will you take me? Get in! Does it bother you to sit in the back? No, not at all. You’re leaving town for the weekend? Yes, Saturday is May first. On that day there are always demonstrations. I hate demos. Why is that? Because there are too many people in the streets. And then there are traffic jams everywhere. Besides, my friend Yvette invited me to a picnic for two in the country. That will be much more pleasant.

Grammar Topics
NOUNS
Gender of Nouns
In French, all nouns are either masculine or feminine, that is, they have a grammatical gender. While in some instances the gender is related to the meaning of the noun (mother—mère is feminine; father—père is masculine), it does not necessarily indicate an inherently feminine or masculine quality of the noun. It is always best to learn the gender of the noun when you first encounter it. A single thing, idea, or person is said to be in the SINGULAR. Several things, ideas, persons (people) are said to be in the PLURAL. To indicate that a noun is in the plural, French usually adds an -s to the noun, does nothing if the noun already ends in -s or -x, or transforms the ending (usually -al or -eau) into -aux or -eaux.

Grammar

Indefinite Articles
The indefinite article is used to indicate nouns that are not specified in any special way. Est-ce qu’il y a une station de taxis près d’ici? Is there a taxi stand around here? (The speaker is not looking for a particular taxi stand, but is looking for just any taxi stand around.) Pierre achète une baguette. Pierre buys a baguette. (Pierre doesn’t buy a particular one.) Sylvie cherche des cadeaux pour ses nièces. Sylvie is looking for presents for her nieces. (She has no particular presents in mind.) Articles indicate the gender of the noun they modify as follows: SING. PL. SING. PL. MASCULINE un cadeau des cadeaux un hôtel des hôtels a gift gifts a hotel hotels FEMININE une pomme des pommes une avenue des avenues an apple apples an avenue avenues

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Definite Articles
When you first encounter a new noun in the vocabulary you will see it preceded by the words le or la. Like any word that modifies a noun in some fashion, the definite article also indicates the gender and number of the noun it modifies. These are the forms of the definite article: MASCULINE le père l’étudiant le cadeau l’hôtel les pères les étudiants les cadeaux les hôtels FEMININE la mère l’étudiante

When a noun begins with a vowel sound (or an h- that is silent or mute in French), the article becomes l’ (i.e., l’avenue, l’hôtel). Gender is not immediately apparent for this type of word, because you cannot see whether it is le or la. Therefore, gender will be given when you encounter such words for the first time in the Vocabulary section with the abbreviations (m.) for masculine and (f.) for feminine. When les is followed by a vowel sound, the final -s is pronounced. This is called a liaison. Listen for it as you work with the program. The definite article is used to indicate a specific object, an object that is modified in some fashion or an object that stands for all objects of its kind. Mme Bertrand est la gardienne de l’immeuble. Mrs. Bertrand is the house manager of the building. (There is only one house manager for the building.) Où est la station de taxis? Where is the taxi stand? (The speaker knows that there is a taxi stand in the neighborhood.) Le chauffeur de Mme Thomas est en retard. Mrs. Thomas’ chauffeur is late. (Chauffeur is precisely defined—there is only one chauffeur for Mrs. Thomas.) Je n’aime pas les pommes. I don’t like apples. (The speaker dislikes ALL apples.) 58

Nouns

Contractions with À and Le
Au is a contraction of à+le— “at the, in the, to the.” When the preposition à precedes the article le, it is contracted to au. There is no change with la or l’. Elle travaille au consulat. Elle est à la banque. Tournez à droite au feu rouge. Elle attend le bus à l’arrêt. She works at the consulate. She is at the bank. Turn right at the red light. She’s waiting for the bus at the bus stop.

Grammar

Contractions with De and Le
Du is a contraction of de+le— “of the, from the.” When de precedes the definite article le, it is contracted to du. There is no change with la or l’. Il est à côté du café. Nous sommes en face de la rue. It is next to the café. We are facing the street.

To express the notion of “some,” the French often use a form of de plus article. Isabelle va prendre de la limonade. Je voudrais du café. Isabelle will have some lemonade. I’d like some coffee.

Whenever one can count the items individually, “some” is expressed by des; when the items fall under the category of non-count nouns, the French use de plus an article. Je voudrais des pains de campagne. Je voudrais du pain. I would like some country breads. I would like some bread.

In front of masculine and feminine singular nouns starting with a vowel or silent h- use de +l’ . Je prends de l’eau. I take some water.

Negation of “Some”
After verbs in the negative form, the articles un, une, des, du, de la, and de l’ are replaced by de (or d’ if followed by a word beginning with a vowel or silent h-). Consider the following examples: Je bois du vin. > I drink wine. > Je ne bois pas de vin. I do not drink wine.

Cet is used in front of masculine nouns beginning with vowels or silent h-, as in the example cet hôtel. EXAMPLES: Cette lampe ne marche pas. Je préfère cet hôtel.

This lamp is not working. I prefer this hotel.

Ce is often used as an informal pronoun in the expression c’est— “that’s, that is.” C’est formidable. Qu’est-ce que c’est? N’est-ce pas? That’s great. What is this? Isn’t that so?

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PRONOUNS
Subject Pronouns
The subject can take on many different forms, as you will see in the following examples: The dog bites the cat. The red cape is ugly. We don’t want to know. The house that we bought last year has fallen into the ocean. Mary! Come back. Mary comes back. Y’all be good now. You are good. Personal Subject pronouns are used when the subject is a person. “He,” “she,” “it,” and “they” are also used to replace proper names or things that have already been mentioned. The pronouns are as follows: je tu il elle ça I you he, it (m.) she, it (f.) it, that (m., f.) on nous vous ils elles one, you, we, they we you they (m.) they (f.)

Grammar

Tu is used among friends and family members, while vous is a polite way of addressing “you” (singular) as well as “you” (plural). To be on the correct side, use the formal address vous until you are offered the tutoiement— the use of the informal address. Subject pronouns il, elle, ils, and elles often replace nouns in a sentence: Où est le restaurant? Where is the restaurant? Où sont les restaurants? Where are the restaurants? Il est là-bas. It is over there. Ils sont là-bas. They are over there.

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Note that the noun “restaurant(s)” is replaced by the pronouns “it/they” as an answer to a question. In French, the same pattern takes place, although there is no form for “it.” You must decide between il(s) and elle(s) when referring to things (in the case of the restaurant—il).

Direct Object Pronouns
Grammar
A direct object answers the question “what” or “whom.” A direct object is NOT preceded by a preposition, such as “to,” “for,” “at,” or “in.” A direct object can be a thing, a person, an idea, a pronoun, or even an entire phrase. Here are a few examples of direct objects in English: 1. They buy books for their children. (What do they buy?) 2. Karen brought her a new dress. (What did she bring?) 3. We met Nancy and Harry at the train station. (Whom did we meet?) 4. We met them yesterday. (Whom did we meet?) 5. I gave them the tickets. (What did I give them?) 6. I gave it to them. (What did I give them?) 7. I had an idea. (What did I have?) 8. Did you know that you can fly direct to New York from here? (What did you know?) The direct object pronoun is used as a short cut in the language to replace a person or thing that is a direct object. (See 4 and 6 in the examples above). Direct object pronouns relate to subject pronouns as follows: SUBJECT je tu il elle nous vous ils elles DIRECT OBJECT me te le la nous vous les les

In French, direct object pronouns are generally placed before the verb to which they belong. Here are a number of phrases that use a direct object pronoun. Enfin, je vous attendais. Je vais vous rappeler. Vous allez me rappeler? Vous le verrez avant qu’il ne parte? (votre père) 62 Finally, I was waiting for you. I will call you back. You will call me back? Will you see him before he leaves?

Pronouns
Ça vous pouvez le dire. You can say that again. (le is used to reinforce the statement)

Pronoun On
On is a very versatile pronoun, which allows the speaker to be all inclusive without having to implicate him or herself. In English, we express this notion through a variety of pronouns or the passive voice, depending on the context: We speak English here. People speak English here. You speak (i.e., are supposed to speak) English here. English spoken here. All these phrases can be rendered into the same Ici on parle anglais. The larger context will clarify the meaning. In some cases, on can also be used instead of “I.” Comment trouve-t-on un taxi? How does one (i.e., do I) find a taxi?

In casual speech, on is also used to talk about the group. Qu’est-ce qu’on fait ce soir? What are we going to do tonight?

Note that regardless of how we might want to render on into English, in French it always requires the verb to be in the third person singular: Ici on parle anglais. À Paris on attend avec impatience l’arrivée du Beaujolais Nouveau. Eh, Jean-Jacques! On part? Excusez-moi. Est-ce qu’on peut fumer ici? English spoken here. In Paris people are impatiently awaiting the arrival of the Beaujolais Nouveau. Hey, Jean-Jacques! Are we leaving? Excuse me. Can I smoke here?

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Pronoun Y
The pronoun y is used to replace a noun or series of words preceded by such prepositions of location as à, dans, en, chez, etc. In most cases, y can be translated as “there.” Que dois-je y faire? What should I do there? I’m going there this afternoon.

Grammar

J’y vais cet après-midi. (au pressing)

Note that y replaces au pressing and means “there.” Like other pronoun objects in French, y is placed in front of the verb: Quand y allez-vous? J’y vais dans deux heures. When are you going there? I’m going there in two hours.

Indirect Object
An indirect object answers the question “to/for whom,” in some cases “to/for what.” In English, an indirect object may be preceded by a preposition, such as “to” or “for”: Here are a few examples of indirect objects in English: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Karen brought her a new dress. (To/For whom did she bring the dress?) I gave them the tickets. (To whom did I give the ticket?) I gave it to them. (To whom did I give it?) On Mother’s Day we give flowers to our mother. (To whom do we give flowers?) He spoke to the crowd. (To whom/what did he speak?)

Generally the indirect object is a person, rather than a thing. The indirect pronoun replaces an indirect object, that is, an object that otherwise would require the use of à in French. Il donne un livre à Marie. Il lui donne un livre. He gives a book to Mary. He gives her a book.

Distinguishing between direct and indirect objects is easy in French. When an object (i.e., a person) is preceded by à, it is an indirect object that can be replaced by the appropriate object pronoun. DIRECT: Je cherche le dictionnaire. I look for the dictionary. INDIRECT: Je donne le dictionnaire à Paul. I give the dictionary to Paul.

Je le cherche. I look for it. [it is an object of a preposition in English] Je lui donne le dictionnaire. I give him the dictionary.

Pronoun En
En can generally be translated to mean “some of them/it” or simply “some.” It is used when the noun it replaces is used with an expression of quantity, an indefinite article, or with numbers. As such, it provides a convenient short cut in the language. En generally precedes the verb. Nos croissants sont délicieux. — Vous en voulez? J’ai une fille. Combien de filles avez-vous? — J’en ai deux. Our croissants are delicious. — Do you want some? I have one daughter. How many daughters do you have? — I have two.

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Celui and Lequel
When distinguishing between different things, it is useful to know the demonstrative pronoun celui — “this one,” “that one.” MASCULINE celui ceux FEMININE celle celles Celui-ci ou celui-là? This one or that one? Celle-ci ou celle-là? This one or that one?

Grammar

SINGULAR PLURAL

Quel pullover voulez-vous? Which sweater do you want? Quelle voiture est-ce que tu veux? Which car do you want?

In each case we would translate celui and celle as either “this one” or “that one.” Tacking on -ci makes the reference closer at hand (“this”), and -là more distant (“that”). In the plural, ceux and celles mean “these” or “those.” The demonstrative pronouns are also used with de + noun. Mes parents sont moins sévères que ceux de Nicole. My parents aren’t as strict as Nicole’s.

Celui is often used to answer the question lequel...? — “which one?” As a pronoun, lequel replaces a noun that is either specified by the context or has been mentioned before. Like other pronouns, lequel reflects the gender and number of the noun it replaces. MASCULINE lequel lesquels FEMININE laquelle lesquelles Look at these pretty sweaters. I don’t know which one to choose. This one or that one?

In positive commands, however, the object pronouns follow AFTER the verb and are connected by hyphens: Donnez-m’en deux. Mes affaires? Rangez-les. Donnez-le-moi. Give me two of them. My things? Tidy them. Give it to me.

Pronouns in the Perfect
Recall that object pronouns precede the verb. In the perfect (passé composé) this means that the direct object precedes the helping verb and the past participle it belongs to. When a direct object precedes the past participle, the past participle shows agreement with that direct object: Elle a acheté un chien. > She bought a dog. Elle l’a acheté. She bought it.

Un chien/le is the direct object in both cases, but le precedes the past participle in the second phrase. Since le is masculine singular, no change needs to be made to the past participle Elle a acheté une valise. > She bought a suitcase. Elle l’a achetée.* She bought it.

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Pronouns
Une valise/la is the direct object in both cases, but la precedes the past participle, therefore an -e is added to the participle. J’ai mis les clés sur la table. > I put the keys on the table. Je les y ai mises. I put them there.

Les clés/les is the direct object in both cases; since les is feminine plural, -es needs to be added to the past participle. Note that this results in a pronunciation difference, since now the first -s of mises is pronounced.

Grammar

This rule applies to any and all direct objects placed before the past participle. J’ai donné les clés à mon voisin. > I gave the keys to my neighbor. Elle s’est brossé les dents. > She brushed her teeth. Elle n’a pas vu les jardins. > She didn’t see the gardens. Elle s’est habillée. She got dressed (dressed herself). *Remember that le and la both become l’ before a vowel or a silent h. Je les lui ai données. I gave them to him. Elle se les est brossées. She brushed them. Elle ne les a pas vus. She didn’t see them.

Impersonal On and Se
In situations where the general nature of an action or event needs to be stressed, French uses the impersonal pronoun on or an impersonal reflexive construction. EXAMPLES: Ici on parle français. Ici on vend des fleurs. Les cartes postales s’achètent chez le marchand de tabac.

French is spoken here. Flowers sold here. Postcards can be bought at the tobacconist’s.

In English we might prefer to use the passive voice for such constructions, but French prefers to avoid the passive voice where ever possible. To learn about the Passive Voice, consult page 106.

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Relative Pronouns
A relative pronoun is used when you want to link two sentences that share a common element. Depending on the function that the pronoun has in the relative clause, either qui or que are used.

It’s a young man who ran a red light. Do you know the house that sits on Bunting Hill? My sister just bought it. The lady who came with Jean-Luc from the Ivory Coast returned two weeks ago.

Note that in English we make a distinction between a person (“who”) and a thing (“that”). In French, qui is used for both cases. Note also, that normal agreement rules apply for qui: where qui replaces a feminine noun, all necessary agreements must be made (see the last example).

Note that in English we make a distinction between a person (whom) and a thing (that). In French que is used for both cases. Note also that English can drop the relative pronoun—in French it is always expressed. When a direct object precedes the past participle, the past participle shows agreement with that direct object. This applies also to the relative pronoun que: La maison qu’il a achetée est très belle. The house that he bought is very beautiful.

La maison is feminine. Que is referring back to la maison and is therefore a feminine direct object. The past participle achetée reflects agreement with the added -e.

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Pronouns

Pronoun Review
You should now be able to recognize and use y, en, indirect object pronouns, and direct object pronouns: Vous allez chez vous? —Oui, j’y vais. Tu as commandé du vin? —Oui, j’en ai commandé. Avez-vous écouté le discours? —Oui, je l’ai écouté. Est-ce que tu aimes la musique? —Non, je ne l’aime pas. Avez-vous passé les commandes? —Oui, je les ai passées. Are you going home? —Yes, I’m going there. Did you order some wine? —Yes, I ordered some. Did you listen to the speech? —Yes, I listened to it. Do you like music? —No, I don’t like it. Did you place the orders? —Yes, I placed them.

Grammar

Remember to use y with places (i.e., location), en with quantities, and le, la, and les in reference to specific things/persons.

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ADJECTIVES
Gender, Number, and Definite Articles
Grammar
French nouns and adjectives must agree in number and gender. The feminine of an adjective is normally formed by adding an -e. When an adjective already ends in -e it normally does not change for the feminine. The plural is most often formed by adding an -s to a masculine or feminine singular form, but is usually not pronounced. Je suis américain. (m. sg.) Elle est américaine. (f. sg. ) l’ambassade française (f. sg.) la valise verte (f. sg.) les taxis verts (m. pl.) les valises noires (f. pl.) I am American. (from the U.S.) She is American. the French Embassy the green suitcase the green taxis the black suitcases

Many adjectives do not follow the rule of thumb for forming the feminine. Here is a brief list of other common ways to form the feminine: Adjectives ending in -x are changed to -se: heureux > heureuse happy

Most adjectives follow the nouns they modify in French. Certain adjectives, however, generally always go in front of their noun. Here’s a list of the most used adjectives that have this irregular word order: beau/bel bon grand gros haut jeune joli 72 beautiful good big fat tall young beautiful long mauvais meilleur moindre petit pire vieux long bad better, best lesser small worst old

Adjectives with highly irregular feminine and/or plural forms will be identified in the vocabulary notes of the program. Colors are introduced in the Basics section of the program. Of the following colors all but “white” have the same form in the masculine and the feminine. MASCULINE jaune rose orange beige marron blanc FEMININE jaune rose orange beige marron blanche

American English Italian French Spanish Belgian German Tunisian Mexican

Adjectives, like articles, indicate the gender of the noun they modify. In general, feminine adjectives end in -e, but as you can tell from the chart above, -ien in italien and tunisien becomes -ienne in the feminine.

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Possession: Mon
In English, the gender of the possessive adjective depends on the possessor’s gender: “he has his book;” “she has her purse.” In French, the gender of the possession (not the possessor) is what determines whether the masculine or feminine form is used for singular nouns. Remember, the three French equivalents of “the” are le, la, and les. Similarly, there are three equivalents for the possessive adjective “my.” mon (m. sg,)* C’est mon livre. ma (f. sg.) Voilà ma chambre. mes (m./f. pl) Où sont mes valises?

When a noun starts with a vowel sound, ton is used regardless of the gender of the noun: ton ami (m.) ton amie (f.) your friend your friend

Votre and vos are polite forms, used mainly to indicate the possessions of colleagues, strangers, and people with whom you have no close, personal relationship (in the same way the subject pronoun vous is used).

Possession: Notre
Notre (before singular nouns) and nos (before plural nouns) both mean “our.” Just like votre and vos, there is no special feminine form in the singular. Use notre to refer to both masculine and feminine singular nouns, nos for masculine and feminine plural nouns. EXAMPLES: Nos poulets fermiers sont en réclame. Où est notre chambre?

As with mon, ma, and mes, if a singular noun begins with a vowel or silent h-, son will be used regardless of the gender of the possession: e.g., Son habitude (f.)—“his/her habit.” To express “their” in French, you use leur when there is a single object, and leurs when there are several objects. As with nos and notre, the forms for the masculine and the feminine are the same. Leur fille habite à Munich. Leurs enfants vont déjà au lycée. Their daughter is living in Munich. Their children are already going to high school.

VERBS
Conjugation
Take a look at the underlined verbs. After each sentence we list the verb in its most basic form—the infinitive, that is, the form preceded by “to.”

Grammar

The dog bites the cat. (to bite) The red cape is ugly. (to be) We don’t want to know. (to want) The house that we bought last year has fallen into the ocean. (to fall) Mary! Come back. (to come) Mary comes back. (to come) You all be good now. (to be) You are good. (to be) Notice that the verb forms differ strikingly from the infinitive depending on the subject, the tense (the time when the action was performed with respect to the speaker), and the mood expressed (statement, command, wish, etc.). When verbs express these notions of subject, tense, and mood they are said to be “conjugated.” Thankfully, conjugation follows pre-established patterns. With just a few exceptions, you need not study each verb separately, but need only to master a few standard patterns. Time and practice will lead you to mastery.

Regular -er Verbs
A regular -er verb is a verb for which the infinitive ends in -er and that follows the conjugation pattern presented below. There is only one present tense in French which can be translated into any of the three English present tenses: je parle can be translated as “I speak,” “I do speak,” and “I am speaking,” nous parlons as “we speak,” “we do speak,” “we are speaking,” etc. STEM parl parl parl parl parl parl ENDING -e -es -e -ons -ez -ent CONJUGATION je parle tu parles il, elle parle nous parlons vous parlez ils, elles parlent 77

In the case of manger and commencer, the spelling change is dictated by the need to show that the g- or the cbefore -o is to be pronounced soft (like an “s”). A g- is always pronounced soft before -e or -i, but hard before -a, -o or -u. Likewise, a c- is always pronounced soft before -e and -i, but hard before a, -o or -u. To make these letters soft, French adds an -e after the g- and uses the ç instead of the c. Any spelling variations in otherwise regular verbs will be indicated in the Vocabulary Notes in your program. Here are a few common -er verbs: parler travailler aimer adorer chanter danser to speak to work to like to love to sing to dance donner jouer manger arriver noter regarder to give to play to eat to arrive to note to look at, watch

Aller + Infinitive
When you want to express an action in the near future, use a conjugated form of the verb aller and a second verb in the infinitive form, just as you would in English: Je vais vous rappeler. Elle va téléphoner. Nous allons réserver une chambre. Ils vont tourner à gauche. Tu vas écouter? I am going to call you back. She is going to call. We’re going to reserve a room. They’re going to turn left. Are you going to listen?

Command forms: aie…!, ayez…! Future stem: aurPast participle: eu As a reminder, the tu form is used among friends and family. Always let your French host take the initiative in using tu. *When je comes in front of a vowel, it changes to j’.

Grammar

EXAMPLES: Nous avons le temps de prendre un café. Je n’ai pas ma clé.

We have time to have a cup of coffee. I don’t have my key.

To learn expressions with the verb avoir, please consult the Avoir Expressions on page 137.

Its most common use is to express obligation. In that case it is always followed by an infinitive: Je dois partir à dix heures. Il doit aller au quatrième étage. Vous devez travailler cet après-midi. I have to (should) leave at ten o’clock. He has to (should) go to the fifth* floor. You have to (should) work this afternoon.

*Quatrième means “fourth,” but since the French don’t count the ground floor, its English equivalent here is indeed “fifth.”

Grammar

In negative phrases or in questions, the meaning becomes more nuanced: Est-ce qu’on doit regarder ce film? Should one (we) see that film? (or) Must we see that film? He doesn’t have to go there. (or) He mustn’t go there.

Il ne doit pas y aller.

Only context can tell which of these meanings is the more appropriate. Depending on the context, devoir can also be used to express conjecture: Jacques n’est pas ici aujourd’hui. Il doit être malade. Jack isn’t here today. He must be sick. (conjecture)

Martine writes her letters by hand. I never write letters. Don’t write on the board.

Verbs

Être
The equivalent of the verb “to be” in French is être. It is an irregular verb. Its forms in the present tense are as follows: je suis tu es il, elle est nous sommes vous êtes ils, elles sont I am you are (the familiar form) he/she/it is we are you are (polite and plural form) they are

To learn expressions with the verb faire, please consult Faire Expressions on page139.

Faire + Infinitive
When the verb faire is followed by an infinitive, it indicates that you are having something done (or causing something to be done): Je vais faire nettoyer ce pantalon. Est-ce que vous voulez faire nettoyer cette robe? I’m going to have these pants cleaned. Do you want to have this dress cleaned?

Partir means to leave, as in leaving from one place to go to another. Other common verbs that follow this pattern are sortir— “to leave, go out, to come out of;” mentir— “to lie, tell lies;” sentir— “to feel.” Venir means “to come.” Not only is it a high frequency verb, it also has many derivatives that are all conjugated in the same way: devenir— “to become;” revenir— “to come back;” se souvenir (de)— “to remember;” convenir— “to convene, to agree.” Voir means “to see.” Derivatives of the verb, such as revoir— “to see again,” as well as the verb croire— “to believe” are conjugated the same way. Je pars de Paris à six heures demain matin. On sort samedi soir? Elle sort de la gare. Je ne sens rien. Elle décide de devenir ingénieur. Quand est-ce que tu reviens? I’m leaving Paris at six o’clock tomorrow morning. Are we going out Saturday night? She’s coming out of the train station. I don’t feel a thing. She decides to become an engineer. When are you coming back? 87

LEARN TO SPEAK FRENCH Je ne me souviens plus de son nom. Ça vous convient? Là-bas, vous voyez? Quel plaisir de vous revoir. Je ne vous crois pas. I don’t remember his name any more. Is that agreeable to you? Over there, you see? What a pleasure to see you again. I don’t believe you. What do you believe?

Grammar

Qu’est-ce que vous croyez?

Plaire
By now you have seen and used the expression s’il vous plaît— “please” many times. If translated literally, the phrase reads “if it pleases you.” This construction sounds somewhat cumbersome, but it’s a construction English speakers are familiar with in expressions such as “it pleases me greatly to introduce…” (i.e., “I am pleased to introduce ...”) or “it pains me…” Plaire is only used in the third person singular or plural and it is generally translated as “like,” whereby the subject is expressed through the indirect object pronoun. Cette robe me plaît. Ce jeune homme est sympa.— Il te plaît?—Oui. Les cours du professeur Martin leur plaisent énormément. I like this dress. This young man is nice.— You like him?—Yes. They like professor Martin’s classes immensely.

Note that pouvoir generally refers to ability derived from circumstance, not from acquisition of skills. Pouvoir is usually used with an infinitive. Vous pouvez partir à cinq heures. Elle ne peut pas lire dans la voiture. Tu peux me téléphoner plus tard. You can leave at five o’clock. She cannot read in the car. You can call me later.

Verbs
Savoir can be used with a direct object, an infinitive, or with a clause. It usually refers to knowing facts and figures, or having a particular (acquired) skill. Sais-tu l’adresse de notre oncle Vania? Mon petit frère ne sait pas encore nager. Savez-vous quand votre père arrive de New York? Do you know our uncle Vania’s address? My little brother doesn’t know yet, how to swim. / My little brother can’t swim yet. Do you know when your father arrives from New York?

Grammar

To Know
You now know two verbs that in English both mean “to know,” but that have very different uses in French: Connaître is used to refer to acquaintance (with a person, a city, factoids), whereas savoir refers to knowledge of facts and information, and to acquired skills. Consider the following examples: Monsieur Le Brun? Je ne le connais pas. Le Monde? Je ne connais pas ce journal. Mr. LeBrun? I don’t know him. Le Monde? I don’t know that journal. (I’m not familiar with that journal.) Mr. LeBrun’s telephone number? I don’t know it. His time of arrival? No, I don’t know when he arrives. Program? No, I don’t know how to program.

This last example could also be translated as: I can’t program. English does not necessarily distinguish between being able to perform a certain task because one has learned how to do it or because circumstances allow it. Consider the following examples: Je ne sais pas taper. Je ne peux pas taper votre lettre maintenant. Peux-tu m’aider? I can’t type. (I haven’t learned how) I cannot type your letter right now. (because I don’t have time) Can you help me? (Do you have time, inclination, opportunity to help me?) 91

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Tenir
Tenir —“to have, to hold” is an irregular verb that is conjugated like venir and that occurs in a number of idiomatic expressions. Its forms are as follows: je tiens tu tiens il, elle, on tient nous tenons vous tenez ils, elles, tiennent Command forms: tiens…!, tenez…! Future stem: tiendrPast participle: tenu Here is a small sampling of idiomatic expressions with tenir: Tiens! Tenez! tenir tête à tenir un discours tenir parole tenir à + inf. Il ne tient qu’à... tenir à distance tenir de tenir de la place Here! (giving something to someone; informal); Wouldn’t you know! (expression of surprise) Here! (giving something to someone; formal) to stand up to to make remarks to keep a promise, to be as good as one’s word to insist on, to prize, to result from It’s up to... to keep at arm’s length to take after to take up space

Commands
To give a command in French, use the imperative form of the verb. In commands, the subject pronoun is dropped. The imperative for the polite vous form ends in -ez. Travaillez! Écoutez bien! Ne téléphonez pas! Ne parlez pas! Work! Listen well! Do not call! Do not speak!

The imperative form for the familiar form tu drops the final -s for verbs ending in -er. Appelle ta sœur! Cherche-le! Va au marché! BUT: Vas-y! Call your sister! Look for it! Go to the market! Go ahead! (-s is added back to create the liaison)

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Most other verbs do not drop the -s. Prends le métro! Écris-moi une lettre! Ne pars pas demain! Take the metro! Write a letter to me! Don’t leave tomorrow!

Let’s
Grammar
To indicate “let us,” the verb is put in the first person plural of the present tense and the subject pronoun is dropped. Allons au restaurant! Déjeunons maintenant! Allons-y! Let’s go to the restaurant! Let’s have lunch now! Let’s go!

For reflexive verbs the reflexive pronoun is added with a hyphen after the verb: Retrouvons-nous devant le cinéma vers huit heures. Let’s meet in front of the cinema around eight.

Il faut
Il faut (from the irregular falloir), “it is necessary” or “need” is used frequently in French. It can be translated in a variety of ways depending on context: Quelle taille vous faut-il? Il me faut une voiture. Il faut travailler. What size do you need? I need a car. It is necessary to work.

As you have just seen, il faut can be followed by an infinitive or a noun object. If it is a noun object, il faut refers to a need for something. When that need is personal (as in “I” need something), the indirect object pronoun is used. With an infinitive, it conveys necessity.

Pronominal (Reflexive) Verbs
In French, many verbs are used with a subject pronoun AND another pronoun—sometimes called a reflexive pronoun. Although this second pronoun is often not translated into other languages, it nevertheless expresses a nuance in the way the action is perceived. For example: s’asseoir— “to sit down,” “to sit (oneself) down” 94

Verbs

Although we do not view the action of sitting down as reflecting back on the subject, we do have in English similar ways of indicating that the principal beneficiary of the action is the subject: “please be seated,” “seat yourself.” Below you will find two other examples of reflexive verbs (se lever— “to get up” and se réveiller— “to wake up”) used in sentences: Je me réveille à six heures vingt. Vous vous levez à six heures trente. I wake up (wake myself up) at six-twenty a.m. You get up (get yourself up) at six-thirty a.m.

Normally I wake up around seven in the morning. I get up half an hour later. I take a shower and get dressed.

The Perfect
There are many ways to talk about actions that happened in the past. Here are just a few examples in English; the past tense verbs are underlined and their infinitives are given in parentheses: 1. 2. 3. I went to the market yesterday. (to go) As I was driving along (to drive), I noticed a strange noise in my car. (to notice) I’ve paid an arm and a leg. (to pay)

You notice that there is quite a lot of variety in the types of past one can use and the verb forms associated with them. Let’s take a closer look at these examples: 1. I went, I noticed: This is a simple past tense (in English). We use it when we want to talk about an action that is done and over with. The verb form that we use for this tense is generally called the preterit. For most English verbs it is the form that ends in -ed, as in: I worked, I travelled, etc. When the French want to express the same notion of time, they use the passé composé . As I was driving...: This is a compound tense, in that it uses a helping verb (to be) and a participle (driving) to form the past tense. The participle is called the present participle. This tense is used when we want to express the continuous nature of an activity. When the French want to express the same notion of time, they use the imperfect.

2.

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3.

I’ve paid...: This is a compound tense in that it uses a helping verb (have) and a past participle (paid). We use this tense sometimes interchangeably with the preterit (first example) to indicate that an action is completed. When the French want to express a similar notion of time they use the perfect (passé composé ). EXAMPLES: J’ai eu des nouvelles de ma famille. Il a accepté un poste à l’université de Boston. I’ve received/I received news from my family. He has accepted/He accepted a position at the university of Boston.

Grammar

The above verbs are in the past tense which is called the passé composé . This tense is used when you want to express that the event in the past is completed—done and over with. The passé composé is formed by combining the present tense of the helping verbs avoir or être with the past participle of the action verb.

The Perfect with Avoir
For most verbs, the perfect (passé composé) is formed with the helping verb avoir and the past participle. The formation of this past tense is similar to that of the English “I have gone,” but its equivalent tense is the preterit, i.e., “I went.” Take a look at these examples: D’habitude j’achète les croissants à la boulangerie. Normally I buy my croissants at the bakery. Martine doit faire ses devoirs. Martine has to do her homework. Nous n’avons pas le temps de jouer aux cartes. We don’t have time to play cards. Hier j’ai acheté les croissants au supermarché. Yesterday I bought my croissants at the supermarket. Elle a dû faire ses devoirs. She had to do her homework. Nous n’avons pas eu le temps de jouer aux cartes. We didn’t have time to play cards.

The Perfect with Être
The verb avoir is an auxiliary for the passé composé. Être is an auxiliary for verbs that do not act on an object. In addition, être is the auxiliary used with reflexive or pronominal verbs: INFINITIVE aller arriver monter partir sortir venir descendre se lever se trouver se sentir se dépêcher se réveiller PAST PARTICIPLE allé(e)(s) arrivé(e)(s) monté(e)(s) parti(e)(s) sorti(e)(s) venu(e)(s) descendu(e)(s) se... levé(e)(s) se... trouvé(e)(s) se... senti(e)(s) se... dépêché(e)(s) se... réveillé(e)(s) I (f.) went there once. The train arrived late. She got up early. I found myself downtown. I hurried. We woke up at nine o’clock.

Past Participles of Regular Verbs
The past participle of verbs ending in -er is formed with -é (e.g., parlé). That of verbs ending in -re is formed with -u (e.g., attendu). Many verbs ending in -ir have a past participle ending in -i (e.g., sorti). Below is a list of some of the -er, -re, and -ir verbs. Next to them you will find a corresponding past participle: -er parler travailler chercher écouter regarder chanter manger -re attendre vendre perdre répondre -ir partir sortir sentir

parlé travaillé cherché écouté regardé chanté mangé

attendu vendu perdu répondu

parti sorti senti

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Past Participles of Irregular Verbs
Here are some of the more commonly used past participles that have an irregular form: asseoir avoir boire connaître croire devoir dire être faire mettre pouvoir prendre savoir venir voir vouloir assis eu bu connu cru dû dit été fait mis pu pris su venu vu voulu to sit to have to drink to know to believe to have to, owe to say, tell to be to do to put, place to be able to, can to take to know to come to see to want

Grammar

Polite Requests
So far, most of the verbs you have seen have been in the present, past or future tense with the exception of the following two verbs in the conditional: Je voudrais. Pourrais-je? /Est-ce que je pourrais? I would like (expressing a wish) May I? (asking permission)

The conditional forms of vouloir and pouvoir give a polite tone to a request. Est-ce que je pourrais avoir une baguette? Je voudrais une baguette, s’il vous plaît. May I have a baguette? I’d like a baguette, please.

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The Imperfect (Imparfait)
The imperfect is used to talk about a situation or action that goes on for an undetermined period of time in the past (as in progressive or repetitive actions or in descriptions). Such verbs as être, avoir, vouloir, savoir, and pouvoir are more often used in the imperfect than in the passé composé. The imperfect corresponds to the English “was... -ing” or “used to...” Consider the following examples: Je pensais à autre chose. I was thinking about something else. (or) I used to think about something else. When I was little, my family used to spend every vacation at the beach. He had long hair. He was rather slender.

The Perfect vs. the Imperfect
These two tenses have very specific uses in French. Consider the uses of the passé composé: The passé composé is used to express that a particular action is completed—however long it might have taken. J’ai passé toute une année en France. I spent an entire year in France. (Now I am no longer in France.) I worked for two hours. (Now I’m done working.)

Grammar

J’ai travaillé pendant deux heures.

The passé composé is used to present a series of actions in the past (which you can only do if each action is completed): D’abord, je suis allée à la bibliothèque, ensuite j’ai fait mes courses. First I went to the library, then I went to run errands.

The passé composé is used to indicate that an action occurred suddenly or that it interrupted another action: Je lisais le journal, quand le téléphone a sonné. Now consider the uses of the imperfect: The imperfect is used to stress the ongoing nature of an activity in the past: J’allais à la bibliothèque, quand... Je pensais à autre chose. I was going to the library when... I was thinking of something else. I was reading the paper when the telephone rang.

Whenever you can use the construction “was” + “-ing” in English, the imperfect is appropriate in French. The imperfect is used to express that a particular action happened repeatedly or habitually in the past: Quand j’habitais à la Nouvelle Orléans, j’allais au festival de Jazz tous les ans. When I lived (was living) in New Orleans, I went to the Jazz Fest every year.

The imperfect is used to describe events, people, and objects: Le ciel était bleu. Il faisait beau. Elle avait vingt ans. 102 The sky was blue. The weather was nice. She was twenty years old.

Verbs

The imperfect is used to refer to physical, emotional, and spiritual states of being: Je voulais lui parler. Elle avait très faim. I wanted to talk to him. She was very hungry.

Usually the verbs être, avoir (when it means to “possess” or “to be”), pouvoir and vouloir are used in the imperfect. Sometimes you will see both the passé composée and the imperfect used in the same sentence: Je lisais le journal, (focus on the ongoing nature of the action) quand le téléphone a sonné. (focus on the sudden nature of the action)

Grammar

These are some guidelines that will help you determine which tense to choose when you are speaking or writing about the past. As in most cases, the context will give you clues as to what is more appropriate. The best way to master these tenses is to listen to many examples and to read as much as possible.

The Future Tense
The near future can be expressed with a form of aller plus an infinitive. Est-ce que tu vas partir? Are you going to leave?

This future tense is often used to talk about events that do not occur in the immediate future and that involve some degree of planning. EXAMPLES: Que ferez-vous l’année prochaine? Il n’ira pas aux États-Unis. Quand viendront-ils?— Ils viendront la semaine prochaine.

What will you be doing next year? He won’t be going to the United States. When will they come?— They’ll come next week.

3. Nearly any time you would use “would” in English: Je voudrais une bière, s’il vous plaît. Je ne dirais pas ça. Si j’avais le temps, j’irais danser ce soir I would like a beer, please. I wouldn’t say that. If I had time, I’d go dancing tonight.

Grammar

Time Expressions
Venir de, “to have just...,” can be used with almost any verb to refer to an action that has just been completed. EXAMPLES: Il vient de téléphoner. Je viens d’acheter du pain. Nous venons de partir.

He’s just called. I’ve just bought some bread. We’ve just left.

The expression être en train de (“to be in the process of”) can be used with any verb to indicate or emphasize that an action is not only taking place, but is ongoing. You will see it used when the ongoing action needs to be stressed in some fashion: Ne me dérange pas. Je suis en train de parler au chauffeur de taxi. Elle ne peut pas vous parler maintenant. Elle est en train de téléphoner à ses parents. Don’t bother me. I am (in the process of) talking to the taxi driver. She can’t speak to you right now. She’s phoning her parents.

Although these two expressions are translated by vastly different tenses in English, the main verb of both expressions is conjugated in the PRESENT TENSE in French.

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Past Perfect (Plus-que-parfait)
The plus-que-parfait—past perfect (literally: more than perfect) is used to express an action or condition that took place in the past BEFORE another action or condition that also took place in the past. The past perfect is formed as follows: Helping verb (avoir or être) in the imperfect + past participle. j’avais pensé tu avais pensé il avait pensé nous avions pensé vous aviez pensé elles avaient pensé Study the following examples: Je n’y avais même pas pensé. I hadn’t even thought of that. je m’étais levé(e) tu t’étais levé(e) il, elle s’était levé(e) nous nous étions levé(e)s vous vous étiez levé(e)(s) ils, elles s’étaient levé(e)s

Grammar

Implied: Until you mentioned it just now, I had never thought of it. Elle s’était levée tôt ce matin. That morning she had gotten up early.

Implied: Something happened that morning after she got up. Je les avais mises sur la table, mais quand je suis rentré elles n’étaient plus là. I had put them (the keys) on the table, but when I got back they were no longer there.

Putting the keys on the table happens before returning—the two actions cannot overlap.

Passive Voice
The passive voice is pressed into service when we don’t want to name a particular party as responsible for the action or when we want to shift focus from the doer to the person or thing receiving the action. Consider the following everyday usages of the passive voice: An accurate account of events cannot be given at this time. At no time were any laws violated. The food will be distributed on Friday. Everybody was invited.

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The passive voice in English is formed as follows: Subject + conjugated form of “to be” + past participle (optional: + by + person) The helping verb “to be” indicates the tense. French uses the exact same model to form the passive voice: Subject + conjugated form of être + past participle (optional: + par + person)

I’m invited to one of my colleagues. I was invited. The thief was caught by the police. Don’t worry. Your dog will be found.

Present Participle
To form the present participle, use the nous form of the present tense of the verb, drop the -ons, and add -ant. Three common exceptions to this rule are être—étant, avoir—ayant and savoir—sachant. The present participle is used to express: 1. instrumental action: something is accomplished by doing something: En étudiant tous les jours, j’ai réussi à apprendre le français. 2. I succeeded in learning French by studying every day.

LEARN TO SPEAK FRENCH 4. Descriptive: to describe how an action is performed Il s’est mis à le poursuivre, criant à haute voix— “Au voleur!” He took off in pursuit, screaming at the top of his lungs— “Stop the thief!”

Note that in all the above cases, the present participle modifies the action of the subject. Note also that the English present progressive (“am doing”) IS NEVER translated by the present participle.

Grammar

Subjunctive: Use
In general, the subjunctive is used to evoke subjectivity—uncertainty, emotion, wishful thinking. It is used in subordinate clauses, when the subject of the phrase is different than that of the main clause. Here are some verbs or phrases that require the subjunctive: 1. Conjecture or doubt (douter que) Je doute qu’elle soit chez elle. Je ne pense pas qu’elle soit chez elle. Je ne crois pas qu’elle soit très heureuse. 2. Necessity (il faut que, il est nécessaire que) Il faut que vous preniez le train tôt le matin. 3. Volition/requests (vouloir que, désirer que) Veuillez me suivre. Elle veut que je passe mes vacances chez ses parents. Je veux que vous veniez chez moi. Vive le roi! 4. Follow me. (May you wish to follow me.) She wants that I spend my vacation at her parents’ home. (She wants me to spend my vacation...) I want that you come to my place. (I want you to come to my place.) Long live the King! It is necessary that you take the train early in the morning. (You need to take the train...) I doubt that she’s home. I don’t think she’s home. I don’t think she’s very happy.

The subjunctive is not used in “if” statements or after espérer. Mastery of the subjunctive requires a great deal of practice and study. As you progress to more advanced studies of French, you will learn the special uses of the subjunctive and the nuances that the subjunctive conveys.

Subjunctive: Formation
The subjunctive can be expressed in both the present and the past. It often appears in a dependent clause after the conjunction que. Examples of the subjunctive from this program include the following: Vous le verrez avant qu’il ne parte? Veuillez me suivre. Voici la carte. Je doute qu’elle soit de retour. Will you see him before he leaves? Please follow me. Here is the menu. I doubt that she’s back.

The subjunctive can be used in the present and in the past: Il faut que je finisse mes devoirs. Supposons qu’elle ait appelé les pompiers. I have to finish my homework. (PRESENT) Let’s suppose she called the firemen. (PAST)

The present tense of the subjunctive is generally formed from the stem of the third person plural of the present indicative, to which are added the specific endings -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, and -ent. The past tense of the subjunctive is formed with the helping verb avior or être in the subjunctive plus the past participle of the verb.

Verbs and Infinitives
Many conjugated verbs in French can be followed directly by infinitives. Nous venons livrer l’armoire. Je vais la peindre. Je ne peux pas sortir ce soir. We come to deliver the wardrobe I’m going to paint it. I cannot go out tonight.

Other verbs require the prepositions à or de before the infinitive. Ils ont oublié de téléphoner. J’ai commencé à travailler. Nous avons envie de voyager. Here is a list of common verbs that take infinitives: NO PREPOSITION REQUIRED— aller vouloir pouvoir savoir They forgot to call. I began to work. We feel like traveling.

to go (future) to want to, wish to be able to, can to know 111

LEARN TO SPEAK FRENCH to come to hate to love, like to prefer to have to, must to think to hope it is necessary it is better

I’m going to work this afternoon. Do you want to help me? Could you open the window? I know how to program.

to have just to try to to refuse to to be afraid of to feel like to need to to forget to to be obliged to to be in the process of

He has just arriverd. Martine is trying to organize a picnic. I feel like going to the beach.

to start to to continue to* It’s beginning to rain. He continues to speak.

*In written French, you may very well see de used instead of à.

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Verb Review
Verbs are probably the most important part of a language. A working knowledge of their different forms allows you to express your needs, feeling, opinions, and actions successfully. There are two major conjugations in French: the -er (parler) and the -re (attendre) conjugation. There are two -ir conjugations (sortir and remplir). Many of the most commonly used verbs, however, follow irregular patterns of conjugation (avoir, aller, être, etc.). The following charts give you the conjugation patterns for all the verbs that you have encountered in this program. Only the -er verb parler will be conjugated in all its tenses—in all other instances the relevant stems are given which allow the full conjugation of each verb: PRESENT TENSE j(e) tu il, elle nous vous ils, elles FUTURE TENSE j(e) tu il, elle nous vous ils, elles IMPERFECT j(e) tu il, elle nous vous ils, elles Endings -ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient parl- (from parl-ons) parlais parlais parlait parlions parliez parlaient Endings -ai -as -a -ons -ez -ont parlerparlerai parleras parlera parlerons parlerez parleront Regular -er Endings -e -es -e -ons -ez -ent parl-er parle parles parle parlons parlez parlent

*For many verbs there are two subjunctive stems: that for the je, tu, il, elle, ils, and elles forms, which is often irregular, and that for the vous and nous forms which is generally the same as that of the present tense nous and vous form. In all instances, the subjunctive stem is indicated as you see in this example. Where the nous, vous stem differs, it is listed in second place. REGULAR -RE VERBS Regular -re Endings j(e) tu -s il, elle nous -ons vous -ez ils, elles -ent

Review of Tenses
To give you an opportunity to review your knowledge of tenses we will quickly recap some of their most important features:

PRESENT
The French present tense expresses the following English notions:

Grammar

Je vais.

I go. I am going. I do go.

ÊTRE EN TRAIN DE + INFINITIVE
If you need to STRESS that an action is going on even as you speak, you can use the expression être en train de. Je suis en train d’écrire une lettre à ma mère. I am writing a letter to my mother.

You can use this expression to refer to past events as well: J’étais en train d’écrire une lettre à ma mère, quand elle a frappé à la porte. I was writing a letter to my mother, when she knocked on the door.

FUTURE: ALLER + INFINITIVE
The immediate future is generally formed with the verb aller and an infinitive: Je vais faire la vaiselle. Qu’est-ce que vous allez faire ce soir?—Nous allons regarder le match de football. I am going to do the dishes. What are you doing tonight?—We’re going to watch the soccer match.

Note that the immediate future can be expressed with a simple progressive (“are you doing”) or the progressive of “to go” + infinitive (“we’re going to watch”). Even in French it is not always necessary to use aller to express the future—particularly in cases where the main verb is aller: Où allez-vous ce soir?—Nous allons au cinéma. Where are you going tonight?—We’re going to the movies.

DISTANT FUTURE
To express events in the more distant future, French uses special future endings which are added to the infinitive of most verbs. For some verbs, special future stems exist: Un de ces jours je ferai le tour du monde. One of these days I’ll take a trip around the world. 119

LEARN TO SPEAK FRENCH Within a year everyone will own a computer.

Dans un an, tout le monde aura un ordinateur.

VENIR DE + INFINITIVE
To refer to an event that has just happened, use the venir de + infinitive construction. Monsieur Bernard. Je n’ai toujours pas reçu l’argent que vous me devez. — Ne vous inquiétez pas. Je viens de vous envoyer un chèque. Mister Bernard. I still have not received the money that you owe me. — Don’t worry. I’ve just mailed a check.

Grammar

PERFECT (PASSÉ COMPOSÉ)
This tense is used when you want to express that the event in the past is completed—done and over with. The passé composé is formed by combining the present tense of the helping verbs avoir or être with the past participle of the action verb. You can use the passé composé to express the following English tenses: Je suis allé trois fois à la bibliothèque cette semaine. This week I went three times to the library. / This week I’ve gone three times to the library.

The past participle of verbs ending in -er is formed with -é (e.g., parlé). That of verbs ending in -re is formed with -u (e.g., attendu). Many verbs ending in -ir have a past participle ending in -i (e.g., sorti). Some verbs have special past participles which need to be memorized.

IMPERFECT
The imperfect is used when referring to a situation or action that goes on for an undetermined period of time in the past (as in progressive or repetitive actions or in descriptions). Such verbs as être, avoir, vouloir, savoir, and pouvoir are more often used in the imperfect than in the passé composé. The imperfect corresponds to the English “was... -ing” or “used to....” Consider the following examples: Je pensais à autre chose. Quand j’étais petit, ma famille passait toutes les vacances à la plage. Il avait les cheveux longs. I was thinking about something else. or I used to think about something else. When I was little, my family used to spend every vacation on the beach. He had long hair.

To form the imperfect take the present tense nous form of the verb, remove the ending -ons, and add the imperfect endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, and -aient. The only verb that does not follow this method of forming the past tense is être (j’étais, etc.).

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Verbs

CONDITIONAL
The conditional is used to express politeness and “should” in the case of the verb devoir, and is used whenever we use “would” in English. Its stem is the same as that for the future, its endings are those of the imperfect. Pourriez-vous ouvrir la fenêtre? Je devrais travailler. Je dirais qu’il est fou. Si je n’étais pas malade, j’irais danser ce soir. Could you open the window? I should be working.

Grammar

I’d say he’s crazy. If I weren’t sick, I’d go dancing tonight.

THE PLUS-QUE-PARFAIT
The Plus-que-parfait—past perfect is used to express that an action or condition in the past took place BEFORE another action or condition in the past. The past perfect is formed with the helping verb (avoir or être) in the imperfect + past participle: Je n’y avais même pas pensé. I hadn’t even thought of that.

Implied: Until you mentioned it just now, I had never thought of it. Elle s’était levée tôt ce matin. That morning she had gotten up early.

Implied: Something happened that morning after she got up. Je les avais mises sur la table, mais quand je suis rentré elles n’étaient plus là. I had put them (the keys) on the table, but when I got back they were no longer there.

Putting the keys on the table happens before returning—the two actions cannot overlap. It is best to review tenses and verb forms frequently.

SUBJUNCTIVE
In general, the subjunctive is used to evoke subjectivity—uncertainty, emotion, wishful thinking. It is used in subordinate clauses, when the subject of the phrase is different than that of the main clause.

The TGV (Express train) goes very fast. Goddard’s movies are more interesting than Spielberg’s. This train leaves too early.

Grammar

In compound tenses, short adverbs of time or place generally come after the helping verb. Il a trop bu. Je me suis souvent demandé... Il a bien écrit. He drank too much. I’ve often asked myself... He wrote well

In addition to these adverbs that have to be learned like any other vocabulary item, there exists a large family of adverbs that can be derived from the adjective. Just as one can recognize English adverbs by the “-ly”ending (“quickly,” “fairly”) one can recognize many French adverbs by their -ment ending. Le marchand de tabac en vend probablement. The tobacconist probably sells them.

-ment adverbs are formed by adding the ending -ment to the feminine form of the adjective: discrète > discrètement heureuse > heureusement rapide > rapidement discretely luckily, happily rapidly

For adjectives ending in -ant or -ent, the ending becomes -amment and -emment respectively (although the pronounciation sounds the same for both). élégant > élégamment intelligent > intelligemment elegantly intelligently

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Adverbs

Il y a (ago)
Il y a can mean “there is,” or “there are”: Il y a un restaurant là-bas. Il y a trois cafés dans ce quartier. Y a-t-il un restaurant ici? There’s a restaurant over there. There are three cafés in this neighborhood. Is there a restaurant here?

Grammar

Followed by an expression of time, il y a means “ago.” J’ai dîné dans un restaurant il y a deux jours. Nous l’avons envoyé il y a trois mois. Il y a can also begin a sentence: Il y a une heure le téléphone a sonné. An hour ago the telephone rang. I had dinner in a restaurant two days ago. We sent it three months ago.

Notice that when il y a is used to mean “ago” it generally requires the passé composé.

Depuis, Pour, Pendant
Depuis is used in reference to time and means both “for” and “since.” In the affirmative, it requires the present tense, because it expresses an action or condition which started in the past and is still going on in the present. Elle est à Paris depuis deux jours. Depuis combien de temps êtes-vous à Washington? Je suis ici depuis deux ans. She’s been in Paris for two days. How long have you been in Washington? I’ve been here for two years.

Note that depuis combien de temps means “for how long.” Pour is used in reference to duration and means “for.” It is generally used with the present or the future tense: Je vais à Paris pour un an. Elle reste ici pour une semaine. I’m going to Paris for a year. She’s staying for a week.

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Pendant also refers to duration and can mean both “for” and “during.” It is used with the passé composé to indicate that an action or condition ended in the past. Elle s’est cassé la jambe pendant les vacances de Noël. Elle y a travaillé pendant une semaine. She broke her leg during Christmas vacation. She worked there for one week.

Grammar

Note the difference in meaning in the following examples: Elle y travaille depuis une semaine. Elle y travaille pour une semaine. She’s been working there for a week. She is working there for a week. (It’s a one-week engagement) She’s working there during Easter week. (during a particular week)

Elle y travaille pendant la semaine de Paques.

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SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Chez
The preposition chez (“at the place of,” “at the residence of,” “at the office of,” etc.) occurs only before a noun or pronoun referring to a person:

When ne precedes a verb beginning with a vowel or a silent h-, it is contracted to n’. Il n’est pas à l’ambassade. Je n’habite pas en France. He’s not at the embassy. I do not live in France.

There is also the negative ne...jamais (“never, not ever”) which follows the same word order as ne...pas. Je ne parle pas français. Je ne parle jamais français. I don’t speak French. I never speak French.

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Jamais can also be used by itself. Vous travaillez après six heures? Ah non, jamais Do you work after six o’clock? No, never!

A third negative following this same construction is ne…plus (“no more,” “no longer”): Il n’étudie plus le français. Je n’y travaille plus. He no longer studies French. I no longer work there.

Grammar

Nothing, Nobody
The negations ne...rien (“nothing,” “not anything”) and ne...personne (“no one,” “nobody,” “not anyone”) are used with the following pattern in negative constructions. Vous n’avez rien? You have nothing? Or: There’s nothing wrong with you? (Are you hurt?) It’s nothing. What are you thinking of? —I’m not thinking of anything. You don’t see anyone? —No, I don’t see anybody. Whom are you talking to? —I’m not talking to anybody. It was a wrong number.

Rien and personne can also be used as the subject of a phrase: Aujourd’hui, rien ne va bien. Personne ne m’a appelé. Nothing’s going right for me today. Nobody called me.

Grammar

Yes / No Questions
One common way to ask a question in French is by raising the tone of your voice (intonation) at the end of a sentence: Vous avez une chambre pour moi? Do you have a room for me?

Another way to turn a statement into a question is to put est-ce que at the beginning of a sentence: Est-ce que vous parlez anglais? Est-ce que nous allons à Paris? Do you speak English? Are we going to Paris?

Est-ce que simply introduces a question and is translated according to the context in which it is found (i.e., “are you?,” “do we?,” “is she?,” etc.).

Inversion Questions
Another way to ask a question is to invert the subject and the verb, as seen in the following type questions: Où est la station de taxis? Quand part le train pour Paris? À quelle heure arrive l’avion de New York? Where is the taxi stand? When does the train for Paris leave? When does the plane from New York arrive?

When there is only a pronoun instead of a noun, you invert the verb and the pronoun. In written French you need to link the verb and its pronoun with a hyphen: Êtes-vous français? Travaillez-vous aux États-Unis? Are you French? Are you working in the United States? (or) Do you work in the United States?

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When a third person singular form ends with a vowel (mainly with -er verbs), a -t- is added between the verb and the pronoun. This is to facilitate pronunciation: Parle-t-il français? Does he speak French? (or) Is he speaking French? Does she listen to the radio? (or) Is she listening to the radio?

Écoute-t-elle la radio?

Grammar

For pronominal or reflexive verbs used in inversion questions, the subject pronoun is inverted, but the reflexive pronoun stays in initial position: Comment s’appelle-t-il? What’s his name?

Rising intonation and inversion are somewhat more common than using est-ce que.

Qu’est-ce que
You can ask a question using est-ce que at the beginning of a sentence. By adding qu’ (que) to the same expression you have qu’est-ce que, which means “what?” Qu’est-ce que vous prenez? Qu’est-ce que vous avez? What will you have? What’s wrong with you? (or) What do you have?

You may ask the same questions by inverting subject and verb, as in Que prenez-vous? (“What will you have/ take?”) and Qu’avez-vous? (“What’s wrong with you?”).

Qu’est-ce qui
Qu’est-ce qui also means “what,” but only when the thing asked about is the subject of a phrase. Consider the following examples: Qu’est-ce qui se passe? Qu’est-ce qui ne marche pas? —Le climatiseur ne marche pas. Qu’est-ce que tu cherches? Que faut-il faire? What is going on? What is not working? —The air conditioner is not working. What are you looking for? What must we do?

Quel...! and Que...!
Quel can be used to express both “what” and “what a” in exclamatory phrases. Unlike English, there is never an article between quel and the noun it modifies. Quel always agrees with the noun it modifies: Quelle folle idée! Quels beaux enfants! What a crazy idea! What pretty children!

Conjunctions
There are two types of conjunctions: those that coordinate two phrases (such as “and,” “or,” “but,” and “then”) and those that subordinate one clause to another (such as “because,” “that,” “if,” “although,” “before,” and “after”).

COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Grammar

A coordinating conjunction simply joins two independent phrases that may share common elements (such as the verb or the subject) without establishing any dependency between the two parts that are joined. Here are some of the most common coordinating conjunctions in French: et ou mais EXAMPLES: Martine invite Robert au cinéma, mais il a déjà vu le film. Martine invites Robert to the movies, but he has already seen the movie. Robert est trop fatigué et Martine a du travail à faire. Robert is too tired and Martine has too much work to do. Est-ce que tu préfères voir un film de Tati ou un film de Clint Eastwood? Do you prefer to see a film by Tati or one by Clint Eastwood? and or but

SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
Subordinating conjunctions establish a hierarchy between the two clauses that are linked by them. The content of the subordinating clause in some fashion supports the proposition in the main clause. Here are some of the more common subordinating conjunctions: parce que depuis que que puisque because since (temporal) that since (causal)

Consider the following examples: Je détèste les manifs, parce qu’il y a trop de monde dans les rues. I hate demos because there are too many people in the streets.

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Sentence Structure
Depuis qu’il est parti, je ne suis plus heureuse. Since he’s left, I’m no longer happy. Je ne crois pas que tu puisses nous rendre visite ce week-end. I don’t think (that) you’ll be able to visit us this weekend.* Puisqu’il n’a pas le téléphone, je vais lui écrire une lettre. Since he doesn’t have a telephone, I’ll write him a letter. *Note that in French the conjunction que (“that”) cannot be omitted. There are many more subordinating conjunctions, some of which require changes in the tense or the mood of the subordinated clause. These conjunctions and related issues are discussed under Subjunctive: Use on page 108.

How do you know when to use the conjunction que in French? Whenever your sentence has two fully conjugated verbs and no conjunction (such as “and,” “but,” “or,” “although,” etc.), then you need to add que. When does “that” NOT indicate a conjunction? That dress is nice. (article that modifies “dress”) You should know that that’s not nice. (first “that”=conjunction; second “that”=demonstrative pronoun)

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Plus and Moins
Plus— “more” and moins— “less” are used to form comparatives of adjectives and adverbs. As in English, plus and moins come before the adjective or adverb: plus vite plus tranquille plus grand quicker, more quickly quieter taller moins vite moins tranquille moins grand slower, less quickly less quiet smaller, less tall

Grammar

French is very consistent in its approach to forming positive comparisons, in that it uses plus in all but two cases: bon—meilleur mauvais—pire good—better bad—worse (even this form is being replaced in spoken French by plus mauvais)

Comparative
In this section, you will practice using plus...que, moins...que, and aussi...que, meaning “more...than,” “less...than,” and “as... as.” Here are examples of the three expressions: Cette voiture est plus chère que l’autre. Il fait moins chaud à Paris qu’à Nice. Il travaille aussi dur que sa sœur. This car is more expensive than the other. It’s cooler (less warm) in Paris than in Nice. He’s working as hard as his sister.

Note that aussi, moins, or plus begins the comparison and precedes a noun, adjective, or adverb. Que comes right before the word(s) with which the comparison is made. Note also that the adjective in the comparison agrees with the FIRST term of the comparison.

Superlative
The superlative in English is expressed in words such as “best,” “biggest,” “strongest,” etc. It’s a frequently used construction in the English manner of speech, but it comes far less often into play in French. Generally, the French avoid superlatives. It nevertheless exists and is formed by combining the definitive article with the comparative form of the adjective or adverb: C’est la plus haute tour de France. C’est le train le plus rapide du monde.* It’s the highest tower of France. It’s the fastest train in the world.

As you can see from these examples, the superlative is placed in the same position as the adjective or adverb.

Si Clauses
Si— “if” is used in two types of phrases: when a condition is a real possibility, and when a condition is unreal. Consider the following examples: CONDITION If I have time, RESULT I’ll do it. MEANING I’ll probably have the time —it is likely that I’ll do it. I know I don’t have the time —it is unlikely that I’ll do it. I am not going.

Grammar

If I had time,

I’d (would) do it.

If I were going to France,

I’d be learning the language first.

Notice the different tenses that are used for these two types of scenarios: In the first case “if” is followed by the present tense, whereas the result clause is in the future. In the second case “if” is followed by the past tense, whereas the result clause is in the conditional. The use of si follows the English model, although the tense used in the case of conditions that are unreal is different: Si j’ai le temps, je le ferai. Si j’avais le temps, je le ferais. Si j’allais en France, j’apprendrais d’abord le français. The rules in this case are quite simple: If the condition is REAL (or more likely to occur), use the PRESENT after si and the FUTURE in the result clause. If the condition is UNREAL (or more unlikely to occur), use the IMPERFECT after si and the CONDITIONAL in the result clause. 135 If I have time, I’ll do it. If I had time, I’d do it. If I were going to France, I’d be learning French first.

LEARN TO SPEAK FRENCH

EXPRESSIONS
Voici / Il y a
Voici (“here is/are”) and voilà (“there is/are”) are both used to point out something or someone. That which is being pointed out (the noun) must be visible or audible to both the speaker and the listener(s).

Grammar

Voici mon dictionnaire préféré. Voilà l’agent de police.

Here’s my favorite dictionary. There’s the policeman.

Voilà is used more frequently in conversation than voici. Il y a, “there is/there are,” indicates that something exists, and is often used with prepositions. Il y a une station de taxis près d’ici. Il y a des Américains dans notre hôtel. There is a taxi stand close by. There are some Americans in our hotel.

Il y a and voici/voilà cannot be substituted for one another.

Question Words
Some common question words are: où à quelle heure combien comment qui que qu’est-ce qui combien de pourquoi quand where at what time how much how who what what (subject) how many why when

When asking a question involving a question word, the question word generally begins the phrase. Où est la station de taxis? À quelle heure arrive l’avion de New York? Where is the taxi stand? When does the plane from New York arrive?

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Expressions
Combien est-ce que ça coûte? Comment allez-vous? Qu’est-ce que vous cherchez? Combien de pommes est-ce qu’il achète? Pourquoi est-ce qu’il part? Quand part le train pour Paris? Qu’est-ce qui ne va pas? How much does this cost? How are you? What are you looking for? How many apples is he buying? Why is he leaving?

What’s there to eat? I’m very hungry. Thanks, I don’t want anything to drink. I’m not thirsty.

Avoir can also be used in a number of other expressions: avoir...ans avoir besoin de + inf. avoir peur de + inf. avoir tort avoir raison avoir envie de + inf. avoir l’air to be...years old to need to be afraid of to be wrong to be right to feel like to look like, appear

I’m 39 and I’m afraid of turning 40. She needs a glass of water. She looks very tired. We don’t feel like swimming.

Grammar

See page 80 for a complete conjugation of avoir in the present tense.

Être Expressions
Expressions formed by combining adjectival phrases or past participles and the verb être must agree in gender and number with the subject. être célibataire être marié(e) être divorcé(e) être veuf/veuve être enceinte être en retard être pressé(e) être à l’heure être prêt(e) être malade être fatigué(e) EXAMPLES: Il est prêt. Elles sont prêtes. Elle est très fatiguée. Ils sont très fatigués. to be single to be married to be divorced to be widowed to be pregnant to be late to be in a hurry to be on time to be ready to be sick to be tired

He’s ready. They (f.) are ready. She’s very tired. They (m.) are very tired.

Linking Elements
It is common in conversation to start a sentence with a linking element. These sounds or words allow the speaker to focus attention on what is about to be said. They also give the speaker extra time to formulate his or her thoughts. Here are some linking elements: ah en tout cas oh mais enfin eh bien voyons enfin alors bon alors à propos allons, bon ah in any event, in any case oh hold on well let’s see well well, in that case well then by the way OK

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TIME AND DATES
Telling Time
If you want to ask someone “What time is it?,” you can use one of two expressions:

Grammar

Quelle heure est-il? Vous avez l’heure?

What time is it? Do you have the time?

You can also ask a question by using the regular word order of a statement but raising the intonation. Il est quelle heure? What time is it?

*The word heure normally will take an -s (except for une heure, “one o’clock”). To differentiate between “a.m.” and “p.m.,” the French use the expressions “du matin” (“a.m.”— literally, “in the morning”), de l’après-midi (“p.m.”— “in the afternoon”) and du soir (also “p.m.”— “in the evening”).

To practice telling time, expressing dates and months, go to the Basics section of your program.

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Time and Dates

Expressing Dates
To express the date, cardinal numbers are used in French, except for the first day of the month which uses premier. Here are some examples: le premier octobre le vingt-huit juillet le dix décembre There are two ways to express a year: 1994: mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-quatorze (or) dix-neuf cent quatre-vingt-quatorze When giving a complete date, do so as follows: July 4, 1776: le quatre juillet, mille sept cent soixante-seize (or) dix-sept cent soixante-seize November 11, 1918: le onze novembre, mille neuf cent dix-huit (or) dix-neuf cent dix-huit When giving dates numerically, the French give first the day, then the month, then the year: 4.1.1998: le quatre janvier, mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-huit 30.12.1960: le trente décembre, mille neuf cent soixante the first of October th the 28 of July th the 10 of December

Grammar

Months
Here are the months of the year—to review the yearly calendar, please consult the Basics section of the program. Note that, unlike English, months and days of the week are not capitalized in French. Also observe how the expression prendre des vacances* (“to take vacation,” “to go on vacation”) and possessive adjectives are used here: Le premier janvier c’est le Nouvel An. Elle prend ses vacances en février. En mars le printemps arrive. Il prend ses vacances en avril. Le premier mai on fête la fête du travail en France. L’eté commence en juin. January 1 is New Year’s. She takes her vacation in February. In March spring arrives. He takes his vacation in April. On May 1 people celebrate Labor Day in France. Summer begins in June.
st st

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LEARN TO SPEAK FRENCH The French national holiday th takes place on July 14 . Do you take your vacation in August? I take it (vacation) in September. My parents take it in October. My friend takes it in November. Christmas is in December.

Numbers 22–29, 32–39, 42–49, 52–59, and 62–69 are constructed by adding a hyphen to the base (vingt, trente, quarante, cinquante, or soixante) and the numbers 2–9. *An -s is added to quatre-vingt when it is not followed by another number. 28 34 42 vingt-huit trente-quatre quarante-deux

Il faut
Translate the following phrases using il faut. 1. 2. 168 He needs to work. I need 100g of pâté. ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

Grammar Exercises

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

We need a pound of tomatoes. What size do you (formal) need? It is necessary to go to the taxi station. You (formal) need bread. It is necessary to dial the country code. You (formal) need to turn right. It is necessary to clean these clothes.

Subjunctive: Use
Determine whether a phrase would require the subjunctive or the indicative. 1. 2. 3. 4. 174 I’m afraid that she’s in there unconscious. I believe he already left. She’s so happy that you came. I don’t think he will make it here tonight.

Grammar Exercises

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

That’s the best pizza I’ve ever eaten. At 2,34 meters, Mr. Smith is the tallest man on the basketball team. That has got to be the biggest cake. She’s sad that he left her. I hope you can come tonight. I want you to help me with this. I wish you were here. Long live the queen.

Subjunctive: Formation
Complete each phrase with the appropriate verb in the subjunctive.

Review of Tenses
Translate each phrase. 1. 2. 3. I am going to do the dishes. __________________________________ I was going to go shopping. __________________________________ I am (in the process of) speaking to my friend. __________________________________

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Grammar Exercises

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

Next week we will have an exam. __________________________________ My father left yesterday. __________________________________ I was thinking about my job. __________________________________ Could you (formal) tell me where the embassy is? __________________________________ I’ve just tidied my things. __________________________________ I hadn’t seen that movie yet. __________________________________ You (formal) didn’t see anything? __________________________________ Could you (formal) bring these clothes to the cleaners? __________________________________

Que as Conjunction
For each phrase determine whether it will need the conjunction que (“that”). 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. I am sure that you’re right. I got some news from my mom. I am glad everything worked out. You can’t say that about her! That’s not fair. He told me that the American embassy was around the corner. The wind was blowing but it was warm. I didn’t know that you had told him. Tell them you have finished your homework. I left the apartment and forgot the keys. It is a pity you are not coming to meet my parents. So he told you he wouldn’t come? I know that girl.

English
to; at; in next door next to on the right on the left speaking abroad on time à la carte unless from on about; almost medium by the way at what time at half past seven (7:30 a.m.) dented absent person; no-show to overcome to accept accident agreement to buy actor action actress adapter

to wait; wait for to catch to catch a cold at least Good-bye. today also fall expressway other to move; advance before with avenue to warn blind airplane to have to need to seem; appear to be used to to be afraid to be right April baggage French bread balcony ball bank Vienna roll building

how much order to order like to begin commission dresser connection; communication company to dial to validate to understand pill to count concert acquaintance; knowledge to know advice report consulate continent to continue ticket to get together; be acceptable body suit cutlet color gust; blow gust of wind

definitively degree already to have lunch lunch delicious tomorrow to ask; ask for; demand half half-bottle tooth departure to exceed to hurry service call since to bother; interrupt last behind to get off; get out; climb down to desire mess above to hate two second in front of to have to; must Sunday turkey to have dinner

church electrician elegant to board bottle neck; traffic jam to move in to take employment; job in; inside some; some of it facing in general; normally late pregnant still; again child finally registered to teach then to hear between entrance appetizer to enter envelope around; about to send thick; dense to spell equipped; furnished stairs; staircase

Spain to hope spy to try windshield wiper stomach and floor; story shelf the United States summer to be to belong to to be in service to be late to be in the process of; be doing something European to evacuate

Vocabulary

unconscious exactly exaggerate exam exist experience to expire to explain espresso to get mad to do to cook to do laundry 211

to do dishes to shop; run errands to give a manicure tired suburb; quarter arm chair woman; wife maid maid; cleaning lady window iron to close to close Labor Day fire red light; traffic light leaf February engaged fever daughter film; movie son end to finish flower river great form; form sheet idiot; fool to search

Great Britain serious barbecue; meat for barbecue fat; heavy group; band deft to get dressed to live habit Market Halls beans tall luckily happy yesterday history; story winter man shameful hospital appetizer out of service hotel eight oyster humble here it is necessary; one must it is better there is; there are; ago

island building impossible unbelievable area code flood to worry to install to move in moment interesting international to invite Italy leg ham January Japan gardener yellow I game Thursday young joy pretty to play day newspaper day July

June skirt just; right kilogram kilometer kir there; over there to leave milk lettuce lamp tongue; language sink dishwasher to wash to wash (oneself) washing machine the light vegetables next day; next morning which laundry letter to raise to get up bookstore free; available line limit to read

not no more; no longer only nothing to clean nine nephew nose niece black name no non-smoking normal we new news November naked; bare cloud night number occupation busy to take care of something October smell eye to offer one; we; you; they uncle

Pardon.; I’m sorry.; Pardon me? windshield lazy perfect to speak speech; word particular; special to leave everywhere not yet passport to pass by; go by; pass to give; perform; show to happen to order pâté pastry shop poor to pay country to paint trouble during closet to think to think of; about to loose father perm driver’s licence parsley

pork door gate to take; carry car door postal position; job post office chicken for so that tip why nevertheless to be able to; can pralines to prefer first May first; Labor Day first course to take first name to prepare near to present; introduce almost in a hurry dry cleaner draft; pressure ready to foresee

main; principal spring priority mail probable probably next to program to take a walk to promise to propose from Provence psychology then; next since (causal) sweater; pullover when even so forty quarter hour; fifteen minutes quarter fourteen four eighty fourth what which someone some; any who fifteen to leave

what to hang up to tell; narrate radiator radio to tidy to tidy up fast to call back electric razor department director receiver to receive; have guests to recommend refrigerator to look at; watch diet chocolate pastry to fill up; fill in; fill out appointment to realize to visit (a person) to go back; return; go home to enter into; hit to iron to repeat to put back; hang up to answer to relax reservation

restaurant to stay return baggage claim to meet to find again to wake up cold dress roast beef wheel red to drive; roll street to announce oneself to be called to get upset please bag bloody salad lousy; dirty bathroom living room living room Hi; Bye Saturday sandwich to jump to save oneself; escape to save

to know scandal scene show; showing; performance dry hairdryer to dry second sixteen week to feel to smell seven September locksmith towel; napkin to serve; help to serve as; for alone; only only strict shampoo seat sign to sign if not; otherwise six company sister sofa evening

sixty sun sleep wine stewart to ring to leave soup underwear to remember often station subway station taxi stand next to follow to follow great; super on sure; certain above all likeable table size as long as aunt to type late strawberry tart apple tart taxi to call (on the telephone)

TV set; monitor such; so time to have; hold; keep terrible head tea theater ticket well stamp chest of drawers tomato color; tone early to touch always turn; tour fillet of tenderloin to turn every day all; everything all that; all of that right away straight ahead to translate train trip slice quiet work

to work thirteen earth quake thirty very three third too to be located Tunisia Tunisian a a little one university vacation dishes suitcase vase sales lady to sell Friday to come to come from wind stomach; belly about; at around to spend; to pay green jacket clothes

widow life old vigor; force town city wine twenty purple visit to visit; take a look at fast; quick; quickly speed to live here is; here you go track there it is to see neighbor car flight steering wheel to steal thief your to want

Note: This glossary is a reference of the vocabulary words introduced in the Learn To Speak French program along with their English translations. It is not intended to be a comprehensive lexicon of the French language. 222

APPENDIX C: VERB REVIEW
Verbs are probably the most important part of a language. A working knowledge of their different forms allows you to express your needs, feeling, opinions, and actions successfully. There are two major conjugations in French: the -er (parler) and the -re (attendre) conjugation. There are two -ir conjugations (sortir and remplir). Many of the most commonly used verbs, however, follow irregular patterns of conjugation (avoir, aller, être, etc.). The following charts give you the conjugation patterns for all the verbs that you have encountered in this program. Only the -er verb parler will be conjugated in all its tenses—in all other instances the relevant stems are given which allow the full conjugation of each verb:
PRESENT TENSE j(e) tu il, elle nous vous ils, elles FUTURE TENSE j(e) tu il, elle nous vous ils, elles IMPERFECT j(e) tu il, elle nous vous ils, elles Endings -ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient parl- (from parl-ons) parlais parlais parlait parlions parliez parlaient Endings -ai -as -a -ons -ez -ont parlerparlerai parleras parlera parlerons parlerez parleront Regular -er Endings -e -es -e -ons -ez -ent parl-er parle parles parle parlons parlez parlent

*For many verbs there are two subjunctive stems: that for the je, tu, il, elle, ils, and elles forms, which is often irregular, and that for the vous and nous forms which is generally the same as that of the present tense nous and vous form. In all instances, the subjunctive stem is indicated as you see in this example. Where the nous, vous stem differs, it is listed in second place.

APPENDIX D: GRAMMAR GLOSSARY
TERM adjective DEFINITION A word used to describe a person or a thing . Adjectives agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. A word that qualifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a phrase. An adverb which describes spatial relationships. An adverb which describes relationships of time. A phrase that acts as an adverb. (See “adverb” and “phrase”). A positive statement. The opposite of negation. (see also "negation") A word that characterizes an item (person, thing, or idea) as definite or indefinite. (see also “definite article” and “indefinite article”) A word that characterizes an item with reference to the speaker (definite, indefinite, closer, further, interrogative, etc). An adjective that describes a noun and is not separated from the noun by the verb. A number used to count. (see “ordinal number”). EXAMPLES la maison bleue the blue house le grand chien the big dog Elle a couru rapidement. She ran quickly. Ça, c’est très sympa. That’s very nice. à droite right au-dessus above une fois once maintenant now déjà already Il a regardé le livre avec beaucoup d’intérêt. He looked at the book with keen interest. Ils ont acheté une nouvelle maison. They bought a new house. la maison une voiture the house a car

adverb

adverb of place adverb of time

adverbial phrase affirmation

article

article word

le, un, ce the, a, this

Appendices

attributive adjective

La maison bleue est en feu. The blue house is on fire.

cardinal number

cinq, quinze five, fifteen

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clause

command

comparative

conditional

conjugation

A distinct part of a sentence which includes a subject and a predicate (with a verb). (see also "independent clause" and "subordinate clause") The form of the verb used to give a command or an order. (see also "imperative") A degree of comparison of adjectives and adverbs. The comparative implies a comparison of only two items (people, things, or ideas) or two groups of items. (see also "superlative") The conditional is used to express the result of a hypothetical condition or supposition. The system of verb forms that expresses person, number, tense, and mood.

Ce livre est plus intéressant que le film. This book is more interesting than the movie.

Si je voyais un fantôme, je m’évanouirais. If I saw a ghost I would faint.

conjunction

contraction

A word that links together words, clauses, and even sentences. (see also "coordinating conjunction" and "subordinating conjunction") A form produced by the shortening of a syllable, word, or word group by leaving out a sound or letter. A contraction may produce irregular spelling changes.

I see you will see he/she saw we would see you were seeing they had seen and or but

j’aime I love Il va au (à + le) cinéma. He is going to the movies.

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Appendix D: Grammar Glossary

coordinating conjunction

definite article

demonstrative adjective

demonstrative pronoun

dependent clause dependent infinitive phrase

direct object

ending

exclamatory expression future

gender

A conjunction that links independent clauses or sentences. (see also “subordinating conjunction”) A word used to indicate a specific item (person, thing, or idea), an idea that is modified in some fashion or an item that stands for all objects of its kind. An adjective or article word that indicates, shows, or points out the noun it modifies. A pronoun that replaces a noun or noun phrase that is indicated, shown, or pointed out. (see “subordinate clause”) A dependent phrase which uses the infinitive of a verb and “to” or “in order to” to express the purpose of an action. The person or thing directly acted upon by the verb. One or more letters or syllables added to a word base. A sudden utterance used to express emotion or catch attention. A verb tense which refers to events that take place after the present. A grammatical classing of nouns into masculine and feminine.

A verb which is used to conjugate another verb. (see “command”) A verb tense primarily used to express progressive actions, repetitive actions, or to describe events in the past. A word that is used to indicate an item (person, thing, or idea) that is not specified in any particular way, or is not known to the listener. A clause that expresses a self-contained complete idea. A mood which states a fact or makes a declaration with reference to the writer or speaker. The person or thing indirectly affected by the verb. The basic form of a verb as given in a dictionary. A noun which is formed from the infinitive form of a verb. An infinitive noun means “the act of” whatever the verb signifies. A word used to ask a question. An adjective used to ask a question. The rhythm and voice pitch of spoken speech.

Nous avions déjà vu ce film. We had already seen this film.

Il neigeait. It was snowing.

indefinite article

Il a une voiture. He has a car. As-tu des bonbons? Do you have some candy?

A verb with a non-standard conjugation pattern. (see also "regular verb")

liaison

linking element

main clause

mass noun

mass quantifier mood

negation

The fact of pronouncing final consonants that are normally silent when followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound. A sound or word used to start a sentence, allowing the speaker to focus attention on what is about to be said, and giv ing the speaker extra time to formulate his or her thoughts. The part of the sentence which expresses the main idea, and which can stand alone. (see also "subordinate clause") A noun which designates noncountable rather than countable items. A word or words used to modify mass nouns. A form of the verb which distinguishes whether the action or state expressed by the verb is perceived as fact or not. (see also "subjunctive," "indicative," and "command") A denial; the opposite of affirmation. (see also "affirmation")

A word used to name a person, place, thing, or idea. A term used to distinguish between singular, which refers to one of something, and plural, which refers to more than one of something. A word which giv es estimated numbers rather than specific ones. A number used to place people or things in a serial order. (see also “cardinal number”) An adjective derived from a verb.

la femme cette maison une voiture la beauté

the woman this house a car beauty

number

numerical adjective ordinal number

plusieurs quelques cinquième quinzième

several a few fifth fifteenth

participle

particle

passive voice

past

Appendices

A minor part of speech such as an article or a demonstrative adjective. A form of the verb used when the subject of the sentence is acted upon, instead of doing the action. A verb tense which refers to events that take place before the present, with reference to the writer or speaker. A form of the verb used either as an adjective or to form compound tenses. A verb tense which denotes a time before a reference point in the past, with reference to the writer or speaker.

J’ai vu un film hier. I saw a movie yesterday. Il neigeait. It was snowing. J’avais déjà mis la table quand tu as appelé. I had already set the table when you called. Il l’avait dit. He had said it. La porte est fermée. The door is closed. J’avais déjà mis la table quand tu as appelé. I had already set the table when you called.

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Appendix D: Grammar Glossary

person

Reference to the person speaking, the person being spoken to, or the person being spoken about. (see "adverb of place") A cluster of words without a conjugated verb. Refers to more than one of something. The use of the conditional to make a request. An adjective which indicates to whom or what something or someone pertains or belongs. A pronoun whic h indicates to whom or what something or someone pertains or belongs. The part of the sentence which tells you about the subject. It generally consists of a verb, objects, and anything which modifies the verb. A particle added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning. A word or words which express location, time, or direction. A verb tense used for activities which occur at the present time, in the near future, or which are habitual, with reference to the speaker or writer. (see “simple past”)

Pourriez-vous parler plus lentement? Could you speak more slowly? mon livre my book son chien his dog

possessive pronouns

Ce livre-là est le mien. That book is mine.

predicate

Il a lavé ses vêtements hier. He washed his clothes yesterday .

prefix

revenir to come back dans pour à travers Je mange de la soupe I eat soup every day. in for through tous les jours.

preposition

Appendices

present

preterit

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pronoun

question

question word reflexive pronoun

A word which replaces a noun or a noun phrase in naming a person or a thing. An interrogative sentence or clause which is normally used to gain information. (see “interrogative” ) An object pronoun which refers to the subject.

Pierre est malade. Pierre is sick. Il est malade. He is sick. Où sont les toilettes? Where is the bathroom?

reflexive verb regular verb

A verb used with a reflexive pronoun. A verb which follows standard rules for verb conjugation. (see also "irregular verb")

relative pronoun sentence structure simple past

A pronoun whic h relates or links a subordina te clause to a main clause. (see "word order") A verb tense used to express completed actions in the past. It is most commonly used in w riting. The “simple past” is the same as the “preterite.” Refers to one of something. The language that is appropriate to a particular subject, person, and occasion. The basic form of a verb or a noun after all prefixes, suffixes, and endings are removed.

A word or group of words within a sentence that perform the action denoted by the verb. A pronoun whic h functions as the subject of the sentence. A mood which expresses uncertainty, possibility, a hypothesis, a condition, a hope, a wish, etc. A clause that depends on a main clause to be complete. A word used to link clauses, one of which depends for its full meaning on the main clause. (see also "coordinating conjunction") A particle added to the end of a word to change its meaning. The highest degree of some quality. The superlative implies a comparison of more than two items or groups of items. A form of a verb which expresses different times as perceived by the speaker. (see also "present," "imperfect," "perfect," and "future")

rapidement quickly Il pense que New York est la meilleure ville du monde. He thinks New York is the best city in the world.

Appendices
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verb

word order

A word that typically expresses action, state, or a relation between two things, and that may be conjugated for person, tense, and mood. The main element of the predicate. The sequence of words in a sentence.

Indices
DIALOGUES INDEX
Course Title An Evening Out An Invitation Asking for Directions At a Café At the Airport At the Bakery At the Butcher Shop At the Hair Salon Buying a Train Ticket Checking Into a Hotel Comparison Shopping Dining Out Finding an Apartment Fire! Greetings and Introductions Section Everyday Life Everyday Life Travel Everyday Life Travel Shopping Shopping Everyday Life Travel Travel Shopping Everyday Life Everyday Life Everyday Life Everyday Life Page 43 45 7 30 14 17 21 47 13 8 26 37 49 55 28 Course Title Labor Day Locked Out Maid Service Making a Phone Call Moving Day Reporting a Theft Room Service Shopping for Clothes Shopping for Groceries Shopping for Sundries Small Talk Taking the Metro The Family Traffic Mishaps Under the Weather Section Everyday Life Everyday Life Travel Travel Everyday Life Everyday Life Travel Shopping Shopping Shopping Everyday Life Travel Everyday Life Everyday Life Everyday Life Page 35 53 9 10 51 41 12 23 19 24 29 15 31 33 39